Individual investors in Hyundai Steel Company (KRX:004020) are its biggest bettors, and their bets paid off as stock gained 4.4% last week

Key Insights

• Significant control over Hyundai Steel by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• The top 10 shareholders own 50% of the company
• 12% of Hyundai Steel is held by insiders

A look at the shareholders of Hyundai Steel Company (KRX:004020) can tell us which group is most powerful. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 46% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

As a result, individual investors collectively scored the highest last week as the company hit ₩3.5t market cap following a 4.4% gain in the stock.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Hyundai Steel.

Check out our latest analysis for Hyundai Steel

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hyundai Steel?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

Hyundai Steel already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Hyundai Steel's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Hyundai Steel. The company's largest shareholder is Kia Corporation, with ownership of 18%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 12% and 7.2%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 10 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Hyundai Steel

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Hyundai Steel Company. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful ₩415b stake in this ₩3.5t business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 46% stake in Hyundai Steel. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 24% of the Hyundai Steel shares on issue. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Hyundai Steel better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Hyundai Steel you should be aware of, and 1 of them doesn't sit too well with us.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.